Sleuth is a sideways glance at the city every week, it's the truth, but Sleuth's truth. He's several people all at once. Sometimes Sleuth even gets serious @mcrsleuth
SLEUTH'S USUAL NEW OPENING GUFF
Sleuth hears there's plans afoot for a new rooftop restaurant in the city centre. Following the recent launch of Menagerie bar-restaurant on the ground floor of One New Bailey, Sleuth hears the building's joint agents, JLL & Cushman & Wakefield, are looking for a second suitably attractive concept to stick on top of the newly opened office block up on the seventh floor (pictured above). The new operator would have a hefty 12,000 sq ft space to play around with (twice the size of Menagerie), a full wrap-around terrace, and four floors of hungry Freshfields lawyers to feed. Perhaps something veggie then, lord knows they spend enough time sucking blood.
Meanwhile, it's time once more to sound the NEW NORTHERN QUARTER BAR KLAXON, as Sleuth spots a new premises licence in for 12 Newton Street - the former Photo Lounge unit wedged in between Q Cavern and Alabama's All American Eatery. Sleuth hears the new late-night live music bar will be called Jimmy's, and will be Northern Quarter's first craft Newkie brown ale bar, serving small plates of pease pudding and sliders of saveloy dip on sourdough stottie. Each night proprietor, Jimmy Nail, will perform a three song set of Crocodile Shoes, Ain't No Doubt and Cowboy Dreams before punching a heckler through the window.
Jimmy's will open in the former Photo Lounge
ST MICHAEL'S PROMO SWIG
Sleuth sees the promo videos are out for St Michael’s – the new £150m, 700,000 sq ft city centre development from the Gary Neville fronted consortium, which includes a five-star 200-bed hotel, 153 apartments, 135,000 sq ft of offices, some public realm, a replacement synagogue and the two dark towers of Mordor (read here).
The below promo vid and blurb is for the residential element of the scheme:
‘A place for leaders to call home. A place that leads and never follows. A place where only the most ambitious come to enjoy life… a place where everybody drinks really, really slowly…’
Promo for Gary Neville's new St Michael's development (The Sleuth Parody Edition) from Manchester Confidential on Vimeo.
SIMON CALDER AND THE PICCADILLY PALAVER
Sleuth bumped into Simon Calder at the Greater Manchester Tourism Conference in the Palace Hotel. Calder's a charming chap, the Independent’s travel editor and the ‘go-to’ tourism commentator across UK TV and radio. He was very complimentary about Manchester generally but he underlined two things we all know need improving. “If Manchester were Munich then the attention to detail would be very different in terms of general care and cleanliness across the city centre. It’s the same with the welcome. You arrive in Piccadilly Station and it’s impossible to work out how to get around, where to go and what to see. Again this doesn't happen in places like Munich.” Of course, Munich is far richer than Manchester and controls far more of its income. Still, basics are basics and these issues need addressing. Sleuth wonders whether DevoManc will ring the changes as long as Teresa May doesn’t decide to pull the power out of the Northern Powerhouse.
A BRAVE NEW WORLD OF FOOD
Sleuth thinks the upcoming Manchester Food and Drink Festival has missed a trick with its awards and should have a special prize for ‘Most Confusing Food Category’. Confidential has developed a deep affection for Thairish in Levenshulme and will be reviewing it next week. The LoveLevenshulme website describes it as ‘Thai and Irish home cooked food, all day breakfast, snacks & meals.’ Lovely, green curries and bacon and eggs. The café had to change its name in 2013 when the word ISIS became poison despite, in this instance, referring to an Egyptian Goddess. Sleuth is thinking of other cuisine combinations for Manchester: maybe Enguguese, Argentalian, Indman and Scelsh, the latter an exciting combination of Scottish and Welsh cuisine.
The cafe formerly known as ISIS
EL GATO NEGRO AND OYSTERS AND SCALLOPS
Sleuth went to the media lunch launch of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival this week. The Festival runs from 29 September to 10 October and has a sparkling roster of events. Simon Shaw, the El Gato Negro chef, who features in the Festival, had prepared a cracking menu which included two standout dishes, the Gillardeau oysters in an avocado puree and kimchi oil, and the scallops in chorizo on puy lentils. “Ah,” said the editor, Blake, to the indefatigable Shaw, “The scallops in chorizo are like posh pigs in blankets.” Shaw didn’t look convinced. “It’s that new cuisine, Spanglish,” said Sleuth who can’t get Thairish out of his small head. Shaw looked even less convinced.
Gillardeau oyster, avocado puree and kimchi oil
Posh piggy
TRIPE AND LABOUR MEETING
The editor-at-large, Schofield, is launching his latest book Illusion & Change Manchester on Tuesday at Albert’s Chop House. The books refers to the brother venue of Albert’s, Sam’s Chop House, and how it had to move from its original location on Market Street when its original site was bought in the 1960s for a vast tripe restaurant from UCP (United Cattle Products). Thus the launch will feature a 'tripe challenge' for anybody brave enough to take part. Sadly several key politicians in the city can’t attend as there’s an important Labour Group meeting in the nearby Town Hall. Sleuth’s suggestion to the politicians that, in that case, a tripe challenge would be just the ticket, wasn't altogether well-received.
SLEUTH’S ODD ADVERTISING TACTIC
Sleuth was alarmed by a pre-Christmas advert for Beef & Pudding on Fountain Street which was sent out this week. It asked a question: ‘Is it your job to book the Christmas doo this year?’ Then it repeated the question spelling ‘do’ ‘doo’, clearly this was deliberate, an intentional number two, so to speak. Sleuth might be wrong and is definitely being scatological, but isn’t the double ‘o’ variant generally reserved for another thing altogether; not one to be used when the matter of food is brought up?
Come and do your doo in Beef & Pud-dung
DELIVERSLEUTH
Now Sleuth's just got used to dodging their squadron of suicidal cyclists hightailing across town, food delivery giant Deliveroo have unveiled a brand new logo. This one still features the teal kangaroo but in a much pared down graphic version. In fact it’s been so reduced and flattened, Sleuth now reckons it resembles less of a marsupial and more of a flipped bird. One cynic made Sleuth chuckle this week: “At least they now have a logo which fully represents their customer service....” Ouch.
'No we don't know where your food is, but you can have one of these instead...'
SLEUTH'S SPOOKIEST MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL OF THE WEEK
BOO
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